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Legal grey areas?

Korth
Mayor / Maire

I've read the Public Mobile Terms of Service.  And I understand that by continuing to use the PM service I will implicitly "agree" with any future amendments to these terms.

 

My question in plain English: will I be violating this compact with PM by using "unbreakable" cryptosecurity and "untraceable" (international) VPN routing on my cellular data?

9 REPLIES 9

Hello @kav2001c @Korth @PBForMe

 

I think the clause you are looking for in the Service Terms is 'You can only use Public Mobile services for your own individual use, with compatible devices and in compliance with the law' with the key piece being the final 5 words.

 

Using the example from earlier in the thread, if VPN usage facilitates an illegal activity, you'd have violated the Service Terms.

 

Hope this helps.

@Korth and to be clear since that blurb is kinda long;

Your ISP is NOT ALLOWED to give your personal info to the claimant UNLESS there is a court proceeding

The ISP will erase the data 6 months after notice

The notice itself is simply your ISP sending you a warning that there is a complaint, and once completed (or failed if claimant had faulty error) they simply respond to claim with a success/failure of delivery response

 

My original post still stands too

If you use the Telus network with VPN for privacy, loading a second VPN on your Public cell will simply slow down your data and is pointless. If you REALLY want privacy for things like Torrents check out a distribution like Tails

 

The notice emails are kind of weak @Korth

I wouldn't really worry too much about it

And NEVER pay a fine, even if some troll asks for it

Tons of these all over web, if you are not pulled into court in next 6 months you can print that email out and use it as toilet paper

 

 

What does the “notice-and-notice” regime require your ISP to do?
“Notice-and-notice” is the nickname for the regime put into place by sections 41.25 and 41.26 of the Copyright Act, which came into force on January 2, 2015. The rules require digital network providers, like ISPs and VPNs, to handle notices sent by copyright owners to users whose electronic location, like an IP address, the copyright owner claims is the source of possible infringement.

To comply with the regime, the notices must identify:

• what infringement is alleged;
• the material to which the alleged infringement relates,
• the claimant’s name, address, and right with respect to it, and
• the electronic address, date and time of the alleged activity.

When a network provider receives such a notice, we must do two things: forward the notice electronically to what we believe to be the corresponding accountholder, providing the notice’s sender with a success or failure receipt that does not identify the accountholder; and retain the information allowing the accountholder’s identity to be determined for six months. If the copyright owner who sent the notice commences court proceedings, we may be required to retain it for more than six months.

 

That said, please note the following. Many automatically-generated notices contain text written with foreign law in mind, not Canadian law. You should therefore be especially careful when reading claims geared towards a foreign jurisdiction, like the United States. For instance, maximum statutory damages are far lower in Canada than in the U.S. Notice-and-notice does not trigger suspension of your Internet services, as its U.S. equivalent (notice-and-takedown) may.

PBForMe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Probably the only thing that might raise the ire of PM is P2P type stuff. 

Not referring to WiFi, referring to data where the Public Mobile cellular network is used for internet access.  In this instance PM is effectively the "ISP" and is probably subject to all laws and regulations which apply to any other ISP in the region.

 

Just curious because it turns out that I use WiFi to connect to my Telus Optik home internet service, and Telus has recently sent me a notice-and-notice copyright infringement email, lol.  (A certain WiFi leech in my family admits to downloading tons and tons of dubious torrents - I ran full anti-malware scans, tightened some bolts on my firewall and login privileges, finally upgraded ye olde WEP to WPA2, and changed all network-related passwords.)

 

Nonetheless, I don't have time to waste on hacker games and I don't especially feel like being served legal notices/fines, so it seems to me that crypto and VPNs aren't a bad way to add a little anonymity (through legal barriers, if nothing else) to whatever dubious activities might occur on my dime.  Better (and less insulting to the offending family member) than installing net-nanny software, lol.

 

I'd thought that if Telus takes issue with VPNs, crypto, and P2P then Public Mobile likely would as well.

@imm1304 Netflix has some bizarre idea the only reason to use a VPN is to watch US Netflix. But either way tons of companies insert unenforcable terms in contracts all the time. They also include a clause on severability so once you have that removed the rest of the contract is still valid.

 

 

kav2001c
Mayor / Maire

@Korth using a VPN itself is not a violation of the terms. A VPN is also not "unbreakable" or "untraceable" but that's not the question

 

Usually slowing your data down via a VPN is kind of pointless unless on an open WiFi connection anyways.

 

 

 

imm1304
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

Hi @Korth!

 

You raise an interesting question.

 

My opinion is similar to @PBForMe.  

I understand it to be within your rights to use VPN and/or cryptosecurity.

 

The only problem I see is with 3rd party services like Netflix, who prohibit VPN usage.  

PBForMe
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

That's pretty standard for any user agreement.  I don't see why PM would care if you use VPN's or encrypted communications. 

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